A Porta ao Lado

Berlin - a city that still has its issues with its past. And while it states here that it is a comedy - I'd call that a bit of a far stretch. I'd call it a drama - with quite bit of comedic touches. Some may even feel this is a thriller. The way the trailer is cut certainly gives that impression (thankfully I only saw that after I had seen the movie).

Daniel Brühl can not only draw from his experience as an actor (the role he is offered may or may not be a wink at his Marvel role), but also his spanish roots - from one of his parents side that is. We knew that he is a great actor, but with this he seems to establish himself as a really good director as well. He certainly had a quite the tight script to work with - which always helps.

How good do we know our neighbors or anyone in close proximity to us? This has some bits of a spanish thriller I've seen, where misery played a big role. But it is not a remake of that, it has quite a few other elements in it. It is about fame, about relationships and more importantly about trust. Also it deals with the Stasi in a really clever way. Highly recommended, even if there may be times where it seems to come to a full stop .. a new revelation/twist will keep you on the edge of your seat ...

Nice storyline, great acting. If you are from Berlin you will enjoy the images. Nice job Daniel Bruhl.

This was wonderful. Gradually growing tension, garnished with comic touches, and played to perfection by the two male leads.

A smooth and successful young actor is to fly from his Berlin home to Britain to audition for a superhero movie. His only frustration at that point is getting hold of the script. His taxi to the airport arrives too soon, so he sends it off and thinks to fill in time with a drink at the local bar. There he encounters another inhabitant of his block of flats. He treats their discussion with tactful reserve, as a fleeting encounter with an unimportant man. But the conversation proves quite sticky. His frustrations grow, tension deepens.

Almost the entire film takes place in the bar, giving it the feel of a stage play. And almost all the dialogue is between the two men, though there are important scenes involving his wife and the woman who owns the bar.

The backdrop is gentrification, with the two protagonists representing a clash between the old and the new. Looming over all is the shadow of the past: the Stalinist regime in Eastern Germany.

I would be happy to watch this again.

While the main trailer for this film was quite impressive and promising, I must admit that the movie loses it's freshness due to the postmodern features.

And with that I principally mean the normalization of frighteningly strange story points. With that I mean the lack of an accurate representation on how someone normal would react to the things going on.

Daniel Brühl is brilliant, as he should be, but his character and the others do not react normally. This gives the movie an bizarre feeling. Because the sense of being appalled is not properly shown.

From a filmmaking point of view this film is solid, but it just fails because of postmodernism.

This is pretty miserable, even for a dramedy, but I generally liked what it was going for, even if the execution left a bit to be desired. I kept thinking of Banshees of Inisherin at times, but maybe only because of all the drinking and because Daniel Bruhl's co-star looked a little like Brendan Gleeson.

I wonder if Bruhl had a bad experience with someone who didn't like his acting at a bar, and then made this film to imagine that interaction being pushed as far as possible. If Misery is about a creative person encountering their number #1 fan, but that fan is crazy, then Next Door is about encountering one's number #1 hater, but that hater is a bit less crazy. Also, they don't want to do physical harm, but seem willing to go to great lengths to inflict psychological torment.

The stress caused is almost funny, but it's mostly just bitter and downbeat. It's a nihilistic watch, so some of that lack of satisfaction is intended, but still, I wish it had just had something more to offer by the time it started wrapping up.

If you're after a bottle movie, this works decently enough, though. It is solidly acted and directed, and proves mostly engaging for its brief runtime. It's not quite a great film, but Next Door is solid enough. I don't regret watching it, and it's always nice to find the time to check out something offbeat and far from widely discussed.